Local Sojourn students get King award

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

Youngstown

D’Treal Bennett’s love of history and travel first prompted her to participate in the Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, but she got a lot more than that out of it.

Bennett, 18, a senior at Youngstown Early College, was one of 13 Sojourn students who traveled earlier this month to Columbus to receive the Youth: Capturing the Vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award from the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission.

“I was excited to get the recognition,” said Bennett.

Through the Sojourn program, students and some adults travel for 10 days, visiting five states and following the path of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.

During the trip, the students learn Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence.

October’s Nonviolence Week in the city started through the efforts of Sojourn students and has grown each year.

Last year, more than 500 people attended the first parade as part of the week’s activities. The parade was spearheaded by Janae Ward, a senior at the Chaney Campus.

Penny Wells, a retired city schools teacher, started in the program in the city.

Bennett said her participation changed her.

“It changed some of the language that I use and made me try to influence my friends to change some of the language that they use,” she said.

Yulanda McCarty- Harris, director of equal opportunity and diversity at Youngstown State University, who took the Sojourn trip in 2008, nominated the students for the award.

“When I saw the criteria for the youth award, I knew they would win this award,” she said during a city school board meeting this week. The criteria call for young people who have “exemplified leadership, commitment to excellence and interracial cooperation” as well as adherence to at least one of Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence.

“I knew our students would be in a position to win this award,” McCarty-Harris said.

“We should be proud that these students form the Youngstown City Schools.”